Clan Wyvern
by KylaSoulSongAlchemist
Summary: Saved by Mewt's father, Kyra and Jake are swept into his fantasy. Will they be able to find each other? Will they find clan life suitable? Will Mewt ever stop bothering Kyra about getting into engagements, or will her temper get the best of her? Rated T for occasional cursing and, obviously, violence.
1. Enter: Connectiong Start!

A/N: Lol so this is my first FFTA fic. I've been playing it and recently began the after game, so I decided to see if I could do well at writing a story with different characters. Clan Nutsy will still be in this at certain chapters, though, but until then, I'll be with my clan. I suppose we should begin, shouldn't we?

Here in Ivalice, it snowed often. Most had the money to bundle up, and others stayed in their homes, nice and warm. However, this was not the case for one young girl and her younger step brother.

Their names were Kyra Eldriche and Jacob Hielen. Kyra was small for her age, nearly fifteen, and often mistaken to be at the age of eleven. Her size, however, allowed for her to reach places others couldn't, making her ability to hide exempt. Her hair was long and brown, her eyes hazel rimmed with blue. Her voice tended to be at a lower volume. Often times she lowered her pitch for intimidation. She wore black-rimmed glasses with an elaborate design. She was quick and resourceful, and always made sure her brother was her first priority. However, though quick-witted, she was very withdrawn and often too shy to approach an adult for help, unless they asked her first.

Jacob was a year and a half younger than her, though taller. Despite being bigger, his voice was of a higher pitch. His Lolita voice combined with his boyish charm and sad, blue-grey eye color was helpful in his attempts of begging to help her sister find food. His hair was short and brown, not a shade different from Kyra's. Sometimes her would use a slingshot to take down a bird or to for her to cook, as his aim was excellent.

I suppose you know by now that this story revolves around them. Let's take a look into their minds, shall we?

~Kyra~

It's sometime at night. I'm sitting upright next to my curled up, sleeping step brother. I turn my head to look at him. His face is peaceful. No nightmares so far, hopefully none for the rest of the night.

I climb to my feet to stretch, my muscles stiff. I lean a bit too far back, and the tired haze is replaced by a frightening dizziness. I manage to turn and use my hands to keep my head from smashing into the concrete below.

I would've eaten like Jake insisted, but he's my baby brother. I have to protect him, no matter the cost.

It's cold as usual, bit this kind of cold had a bit of an extra bite to it. I feel a sharp drop in temperature on a single spot on my shoulder. Assuming it came from the sky, I looked up.

It's snowing. Damn it, what the Hell are we supposed to do now? Last time it snowed, we both got sick and nearly died!

Well, it's late. Jake needs rest, so I'll stay up and wake him in the morning. Still, I need to keep him warm. He normally falls asleep pretty quickly. It may wake him up, but I'll adjust him so that I can hold him. With a plaintive murmur, he allows me to lift him enough to wrap my arms around him.

I want to sleep so badly, but I know I can't when it's snowing. Jake can sleep as long as he wants when I'm around. I can always tell when he's breathing that way.

Hours passed and the sun finally began to show itself above the buildings, making the new, white blanket faintly glisten. I waited until I saw the first person on the streets to wake my brother.

"Jacob, wake up."

"Dad, I don't want to go to school…"

"Jacob, it's snowing."

"Snowing?!" He shot out from my arms, looking about with a smile until he realized that we were still in the harsh reality of the streets. A frown settled on his face when he turned back to me. "Please tell me this is a nightmare."

I sighed. "It is. A _real _nightmare."

The disappointment on his face was shown, and quickly replaced with fear. "Kyra, are we going to die out here?"

I shook my head and gave him my sweetest look. "I won't EVER let that happen. We'll just have to find more wood, build an igloo, and grab some cloth from the dumpster."

He grimaced at the thought of getting things from a metal box full of trash. "We're going to use the snow to wash them off, right?"

I nodded. "Let's start by getting some wood."

~Jacob~

Kyra's always working too hard. I know that she's older than me, but that doesn't mean she has to take care of me. I can see the fatigue in her face when she picks up her tiger plush, Morrison, as well as the shakiness in her legs when she walks. She didn't eat like she told me she would, did she? And she's not supposed to do that with her condition… her blood sugar must be ridiculously low by now…

Just as we're about to cross the street, Kyra pauses. Her eyes point upward and she has a dazed look on her face.

"Sis, are you okay?" I ask, taking her hand.

"I… feel… so strange…" Her eyes began to glaze over. As soon as they did, she collapsed.

I was on my knees in an instant, shaking her shoulder. "Kyra! Kyra, get up!" I kept calling her and calling her, the people on the streets staring at us with spite. "Someone, please help!"

No one moved. What's wrong with these people?!

No time to wonder about that. I take off my light jacket and lay it over her before rushing off to the police. Surely they aren't bad enough to leave her, right?

It takes me about ten minutes to reach the police station. I walk inside and tap on the chief's shoulder.

"What is it, you brat?" He glares at me.

"My, my sister, she collapsed and she won't wake up!"

He sneered at me. "Oh, another scam of yours, right? I'll admit, this trick is new, but I don't think you'll be getting anyone's food or money for your 'poor sister'. Sorry, but your charms won't be getting to anyone today."

I back away slowly, tears welling up in my eyes. I turn and run out of the police station. I keep running, my eyes too cloudy to tell where I'm going.

This continues until I run into someone.

Knocked onto my butt, I look up to see a man in a coat. His hair is brown and straight, and he was sporting a beard. He had a look on his face that seemed a bit rash-natured but kind.

"Woah, watch where you're going, kiddo. You alright? You don't have to cry." He leans down to help me up, giving me a concerned look. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"N-no, but I may as well be…" I can't stop the tears from rolling down my face.

"What's wrong, bud?"

"M-my sister passed out in the snow… no one w-will help me…" I rub my eyes in an attempt to see clearer.

"Where is she? I have enough room in my apartment to hold you both. Besides, my son might like the company." He smiles at me.

"R-really?! You mean it?!"

"Of course, I can't ignore something like this."

"Thank you so much! She's this way!" Without another word, I ran off in the direction Kyra was in. Being an adult, he caught up easily.

When we reached her, she was still in the same state as she was before. Unconscious and shivering. The man picked up her glasses and put them in his pocket. He reached for Morrison, placing him on her before picking her up. He was about to start walking again before I remembered something.

"Oh, wait!" I turned to our little spot on the street and picked up a wooden case before trotting back to him. "She'd be pretty mad if I left this."

He was the first to start walking. "What is it?"

"This case has her journal and some pencils. I think she has a sharpener, too. She loves to draw. If she goes a day without drawing, she gets all jittery and nervous." I smiled awkwardly at him. "She's really good, but some of her drawings are a little scary."

"I'd like to see some of them. What kinds of things does she draw?" He smiled back at me, genuinely interested.

"Monsters, animals, some weird dreams she has, comics. Sometimes she draws us, too. I'd rather not talk about the darker ones. She has a marked section for them so I don't have to look at them, though. She didn't want to give me nightmares."

"Well that was considerate of her." He looked at her curiously. "What's her name? What's your name, for that matter."

"She's Kyra and my name's Jacob, but you can call me Jake!"

He chuckled quietly. "Nice to meet you, Jake. How old are you two?"

"I just turned thirteen a few month ago, and she's going to be fifteen soon."

"Fifteen? But she's so small!"

"I know! Heh heh, don't tell her that, though!"

"So I've been wondering, do you know what may have caused her to pass out like that?" He looked back at me.

I shook my head. "That could be more than one reason. She hardly ever sleeps because she's paranoid. She may have gotten sick. I think she lied to me when she said she ate last night. She's hypoglycemic, so she's actually supposed to eat every few hours, but we have a hard enough time finding food as is."

"Why would she lie about eating when she has that condition?" Most people ask what hypoglycemia is, but that's a good question anyways.

"I don't know, to make me eat more? She has this weird thought that she has to protect me, and she often gets hurt, sick, etc. because of it. I wish she'd take some time to think about herself, though… I hate seeing her like this; it scares me half to death…"

"I see…" He frowned. "But her heart's in the right place. We're almost there."

"Oh, um, I hadn't interrupted you with anything, have I?"

"Nothing important. Just out for a stroll before work."

"I hope I didn't make you late, Mister…"

"Oh, no, I have a couple of hours. My kid's probably ready for school and chilling on the couch right now. He's about your age, Jake."

"What's his name?" I looked up at him curiously.

"His name is Mewt. He normally doesn't have many visitors. Please be nice to him."

"Mewt, huh? Sure, I'll be nice! Besides, he must be as kind as you are, Mister!"

"My name's Cid Randell. You can call me Cid if you want."

"Okay! Cid and Mewt, I like your names! I think Kyra's going to like you when she comes to!"

~Cid~

These poor kids. From the looks of it, they've been roaming the streets. This girl looks so skinny, and her brother doesn't look much better.

Jake seems a bit bubbly and upbeat, though. I think Mewt would like him.

We continue walking for about five more minutes, Jake commenting on Kyra's social anxiety and my return on Mewt's shyness.

"We're here. Mind opening the door for me? My key's in my left coat pocket." Jake took the key and opened the door. Mewt turned his head to look at me.

"… papa, who're they?"

"A couple of kids I found on the street. The girl was zonked out near the street, so I decided to help them out." I set Kyra down on the couch next to him, her head rolling opposite of him.

Jake smiled at him. "I'm sorry for all this. You must be Mewt. I'm Jake, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to him. Mewt stared at him for a few seconds before slowly reaching out to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, Jake. What's her name?"

"Her name is Kyra. She's pretty serious, but she's nice."

"She looks cold. Hold up, I'll go get a blanket."

When Mewt came back with a blanket to cover her with, I left to get something out of the kitchen for the kids to eat. Just to make sure, I called out to Mewt. "Did you eat breakfast yet, kiddo?"

"No, Papa."

"How much time left before you have to go to school?"

"About an hour."

"An hour, what time is it?"

"It's 7:03. School doesn't start until 8:15."

"And I have to get to work thirty minutes later. If Kyra wakes up, we can all eat breakfast together. How's that sound?"

"Okay, I suppose."

Confident that I could make a good breakfast before Mewt and I had to leave, I let the boys have their conversation.

~Mewt~

I don't know how this happened or why these two are here, but I don't think it's a bad thing. At least, if Papa can keep his job.

So Jake keeps talking about his sister, telling me how much he loves her and that he'd be a goner without her. Apparently she's super smart, too.

I can see something peaceful and sweet in her face. She just seems to emanate comfort. She's kinda cute, too. And then something strikes me as funny about them.

"How come your parents didn't save her?" I tilted my head.

He scowls and looks at the floor. "They died a few months ago in an accident, my dad and her mom… we've been on the streets ever since…"

What he had just said tugged at my heartstrings. "I… I lost my mom a while back. She was sick."

"I guess we have something in common, then. But, um, on a lighter note, uh, do you like games?"

I was about to answer when a slight hum came from the right side of the couch. Kyra was waking up, and she spoke with a soft, sweet voice. "Ja… cob…" She brushed her caramel colored bangs from her face and opened her eyes. They had a certain beauty and intensity about them.

She began to panic. "W-what the, where, what the Hell is going on?!" She jumped from the couch and quickly collapsed on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Kyra, stay calm. I ran into this nice man named Cid, and he took us to his house." Jake tried to help her up, earning another groan in response.

"No, just leave me on the floor until the house stops spinning. And who's he?" She mumbled, rolling onto her back and gesturing at me.

"I-I'm Mewt. Cid's my Papa. Nice to meet you, Kyra." I tried to smile at her.

"Eh, hi Mewt. Oh my God we're in a house… Jake, when was the last time we were in someone's home?"

"Three months."

"Three months…" She sighed, and attempted to sit upright. I tried to help her, but she flinched when I touched her shoulder. "I hope we aren't a burden. I really do…" The blue rim around her eyes seemed to become more prominent.

"It's no problem! I couldn't just ignore you kids!" Papa called from the kitchen.

In hopes to make things less awkward, I started a conversation. "Jake tells me you're his older step-sister?"

It seemed to work, because she smirked and wrapped her arm around Jake's shoulder. "Yep, and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. Not a thing."

"Love you too, Kyra." He returned the favor.

"And together we're the biggest goofballs in the entire world! No one shall ever deny this!"

"Eva!"

"Evvvvvvvaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" They both raised a fist. I couldn't help but laugh. These two are pretty silly.

"I'm glad to hear you kids getting along! Mewt doesn't normally make friends so easily." Papa walked into the living room and clapped. "By the way, breakfast is ready! Bacon and eggs!"

Their eyes widened as well as their grins. "Bacon, after so long!"

Jake and I led Kyra to the table in the kitchen. Breakfast was filled with the murmurs and cries of the other kids. They said that they hadn't had something so good in such a long time. It must be terrible, going through what they had…

Kyra laid her head on the table and sobbed. "We hadn't eaten so well in months… th-thank you…"

I don't know what made me do it. Maybe it was the pain in her voice, maybe the way she shook when she said it upset me, but I hugged her. This time, the contact didn't make her flinch. In fact, she hugged me back.

"I'm sorry, it's just… the things we take for granted…" she mumbled, her voice a bit more steady.

"I know. They're often what you love the most."

She pulled away from me. "Thank you. I needed that. Aheh, I'll probably be saying 'thank you' a lot." She reached up to her face. Her smile faded. "What? Where are my glasses?"

"Ah, I forgot about those!" Papa handed her a pair of black glasses. Seeing her now, she looks older.

"Hey, Mewt, it's almost 7:50. You about to head off for school?"

"I forgot about that. Before I leave, Kyra, Jake, I'm going to buy a book after school. Want to meet there?"

Jake looked at her with pleading eyes, but whether or not she saw, she agreed. "I like to spend my time at the book store either way."

I was about to walk out the door when I remembered something. "Oh, if you two need extra clothes, I think mine would be able to fit you both." Without giving them a chance to reply, I left.

We got a new kid yesterday. I decided to stick around him. He didn't pick on me.

Today we got to go outside. We're having a snowball fight. When teams were decided, of course Lyle would be one to complain.

"Aww, man! Why do I get stuck on the weak team? We're just gonna lose. Where's the fun in that?" He shook his head and walked over to me, sneering. "Hey, Mewt. Where's your little teddy bear today?"

I didn't respond.

"He didn't want his precious bear to get wet in the snow!" Colin jeered.

"Awww… Did your mommy give you that bear?" Guiness gave me a fake concerned tone.

The new kid decided to stand beside me, clearly not pleased.

"What's your problem, new kid?" Lyle crossed his arms, a smug smile on his face.

"Leave him alone. He's not going to say anything anyway. He's like a little girl!"

Ritz, a girl with long, pink hair, called Guiness out. "Hey! That's gender discrimination! And I know some 'little girls' who can kick your butt!" Herself included, I guessed. She stepped in front of Lyle, making him back up.

"Whoa, Ritz! What's your problem?"

"You don't want to be on that team, right? How about we switch? Would that be better? Let's start already!"

Not arguing further, Lyle did as he was told. Ritz gave the new kid an expectant look. "You can talk, you know. Defend yourself. At least let them know your name. You can't be the 'new kid' forever!"

With that, he finally spoke. "My name's Marche."

"Sorry, Marche."

"You don't have to apologize, Mewt. You haven't done anything wrong."

Ritz called Mr. Leslaie, letting him know that everyone was ready. Since Marche wasn't from around here, Mr. Leslaie explained the rules of a snowball fight to him.

As soon as it started, I was pelted with snowballs by Lyle and his gang. I tried to run, only for them to tease me. Eventually, Marche and Ritz tried to step in.

"Will you two knock it off?"

"Why? We're not breaking any rules!"

"Well, you've been aiming at Mewt this whole time!"

"Are you alright?" Marche set a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah… I'm fine."

"See? He says he's fine, so what's the problem?"

"He knows you'll only rag on him worse if he said anything else!"

I saw another snowball fly in my direction. It smacked me right in the forehead. But this was different, it was painful.

"Mewt, your forehead is bleeding!"

"Huh..?" I rubbed my head, and sure enough, got blood on my hands.

Marche turned to them and shouted angrily. "There was a rock in that snowball!"

Immediately, the boys defended themselves by picking on me even worse. That is, until Lyle called Ritz "Whitey-locks".

"What did you call me?!" The fury was visible in her green eyes.

Guiness prodded her further. "We know you dye your hair 'cause it's really all white!"

"Just like a grandma! Hah hah, little prissy grandma!"

"Step over here and say that again!"

Before it got any worse, Mr. Leslaie broke it up. After checking on me and telling Lyle's gang to stay after school, he let us out of school. I stopped Ritz and Marche before they could leave.

"Uh, um…" I waited for them to look back to me. "Thank you."

Ritz smiled at me kindly. "I can't stand bullies like them! They're worthless mongrels!"

"So, um, what are you two doing after this?"

"Why?"

"I was going to go buy this book… and I was wondering if you wanted to come along? And I made some new friends before school, so they'll be there, too."

"Sorry, I can't. My little brother's getting out of the hospital today."

Ritz showed some concern. "Hospital? Was he sick?"

"No, it's something he was born with. We have to take him to the hospital every now and then."

"Tough, huh…"

Marche looked back to me with curiosity. "Who're your friends?"

I smiled at them. "They're two step-siblings, brother and sister. Papa saved the girl earlier this morning when she had passed out on the street from hunger, so now they live with us."

"Wait, what? Passed out?"

I told them what I could from what Papa and Jake had told me.

"Wow, those poor kids…" Ritz scratched the back of her neck.

"They're really nice, though."

"I'd be glad to meet them… um, what kind of book are you going to buy?" Marche tried to change the subject.

"It's about monsters and magic and other things of the fantasy genre. Cool stuff."

"Oh, why don't you bring it over to my house later? Doned, my brother, might like it, and then we can all get to know each other better!"

"Only if you're sure it's alright…"

"Absolutely! Ritz?"

"Well, I don't have any other plans for today… why not?"

"Awesome! Do you two know where my house is?"

"The yellow one, right?"

"I'll be over there as soon as I buy the book!" I was actually getting pretty excited about this.

"I'll be waiting!"

We continued walking until we came across Papa.

"Gosh, I'm really sorry."

"Uh-oh…" I whispered.

"I'm really, really sorry. Please accept my apologies…"

"Mr. Randell, we expect a certain level of performance. Regardless of circumstances…"

"It won't happen again."

"Don't worry. I'll fix things up here."

"Oh, thanks, thanks!"

"Thank you for waiting. Shall we?"

Papa's boss and his client walked away. Ritz commented on Papa's attitude. "Look at that guy cringing like that! Embarrassing…"

This made my face heat up. Great, this again.

Papa turned until he saw me. "Mewt? Mewt, it is you!"

"… Hi, Dad."

He walked towards me and hugged me. "School's out already?"

"Snow day."

"These your friends?" He looked at Marche and Ritz. I nodded.

"Um, don't you still have work to do, Dad?"

"Oh, that, yes! Always have something to do! Kyra and Jake said that they'd be at the bookstore waiting for you, too." He turned back to Marche and Ritz. "You all keep an eye on Mewt for me, eh?" He nodded end left.

I waited a moment, staring at my shoes, before speaking. "He used to work at a bigger company before. When Mom died, he stopped caring. He broke down big time."

Marche squeezed my shoulder. "He seems nice, though. Not many parents talk to their kids like that. I bet you used to go out on trips a lot, too."

With a goodbye, we dispersed. I made my way to the bookstore, where I found Jake and Kyra standing at the entrance, smiling cheerily.

A/N: Holy freaking crap, that's the biggest chapter I've ever done on anything ever. Eh! If only I could make my essays this big! I didn't change too many lines because it didn't seem like they needed it. Please review! I like to know what people think of my writing.


	2. It's A Whole New Wooooorrrrrld!

~Kyra~

After I stopped fangirling over Clive Barker's writing, Mewt bought the book he wanted and we set off for his friend's house. It must've been recently planned, because he didn't tell us about it before.

We met with a girl named Ritz on the way over there. She's pretty, and I like her personality.

"Yeah, back when I was in school, I got picked on non-stop. You just let me know the next time they bother you, and their sorry arses are mine, 'kay Mewt?"

He laughed and we continued on our way to a yellow house. Marche's mother let us in and called to Marche.

"Marche! Your guests are here!"

I could faintly here his voice from above. "Tell them to come on up!"

We were led in by Ritz, clearly the most confident of us. She introduced us all.

"Classmates and two newer kids. Nice to meet you all!" Said the brown-haired boy in a wheelchair.

Mewt had explained on the way who they were. Said boy was Marche's little brother, Doned. Marche was the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy standing next to him. They both seem kind natured.

"You get that book, Mewt?"

"Yeah, right here, but I can't read the title… even the guy at the bookshop couldn't read it."

"Oooh, I love other languages!" My knowledge craving side poked through.

"Looks pretty old. Doned, can you see? We may be able to figure out what it says."

After a while of looking at the symbols and pictures of creatures, we came to the conclusion that none of us could read it. Marche made the comment that maybe it was a spell, after which Ritz pointed out a magic circle.

"It looks like this may be in Latin. And this part seems newer. What does it say?"

Mewt decided to have a go at it. "… Alta oron. Sondus kameela… certainly sounds like magic!"

"Wow, a magic book! I wish I could use magic…" Doned expressed his desires.

"I knew you'd like it, Doned!"

"If you could use magic, maybe you'd be better at sports!" I chuckled at Doned.

"That's not funny!" Marche protested.

"True, though! Hehehe!"

"It'd be cool if this really were a magic book… haven't you ever read something and thought… 'what if this was the real world instead?'"

"Abarat, woot, woot!" I shouted in glee.

Ritz disagreed.

"Well, what do you like, Ritz?" Marche queried. "Comic books?"

"Games! You know, with the monsters and the fighting!"

"ALL THE THINGS! ALL OF THEM!" Jake called out.

We all laughed at his goofy outburst. "So which game would you choose?"

"Good question!"

"If I were to pick anything, I'd pick Final Fantasy. That's my favorite." Mewt said.

"I don't play too many of those games. I prefer first-person shooters." Jake smiled awkwardly.

"Well, I'd go with Final Fantasy as well." I decided to go along with Mewt. Besides, I loved RPG's.

When Ritz saw the clock, she said she had to leave soon. It was agreed that we needed to leave Marche's house for now.

"Thank you very much for having us over, Marche. It was lovely meeting Mewt's friends." I told Marche as he led us out. He blushed and rubbed his neck.

We leave and head to Mewt's house. Mewt warned us ahead of time that Cid is an alcoholic, and will most likely get to their house drunk. This frightened me, so I made an effort to pry further.

"What's he like when he's drunk?"

"Ah, well, very affectionate and weepy. He misses Mom as much as I do."

"Um, Mewt?" I began, embarrassed to ask this question. "May I sleep in your closet? People make me very nervous when they're not sober…"

He paused for a moment. "Why not? I'll just have to move a box out of there first." He looked at me and smiled. "It's big enough that we can make a pallet in there, or we could just use my whole room, like a big sleepover. We have plenty of blankets."

We agreed on that after some discussion. Jake was eager to finally get me to rest.

Getting the pallets ready was no easy feat for the boys, as I kept sliding under the covers and flailing, screaming "HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPIIIIIIIIIIINNNNG!" every time they lay a blanket down. Of course, they enjoyed my random burst of playfulness, and even joined in until we were all screeching and throwing bed stuff around. It took us a while to recover after that, but we did eventually get the pallets down.

"You two are nuts, it's awesome." Mewt smile lying flat against the whit blankets.

We heard a thump and a loud "OH, MEWWWWT! DADDY'S HOME!"

My heart is racing. Mewt said he wasn't dangerous, but I can't forget…

"Where are you and your buddies hiding, kiddo? Daddy wants to see you~!" By now I was hiding under Mewt's bed. Mewt frowned in sympathy at me.

"In here, Papa."

Cid opened the door and closed it. He repeated this action three more times before coming in. "You didn't see me until now. I'm a ninja."

"You're not a ninja, Dad." Mewt shook his head.

"Heeyyy… where's Ky?" Ky? Really, dude? "Is she a ninja, too?" He was looking around the room, not noticing the folds in the covers I made while crawling under the bed.

Mewt decided to go with it. "Yes."

"Oh, cool. Imma go get your mom now." Cid left, singing something like "Oh, Remedi!"

Mewt sighed. "He'll start crying in a few minutes. He'll go to bed after a while."

All of us were exhausted, but we couldn't go to sleep. We decided to pass time by talking, which Mewt initiated.

"Hey, Kyra? Where'd you get your tiger plush? It's cute."

"Morrison? I got him from Jake."

"I gave it to her on Christmas."

"Thanks to Jake giving him to me, I don't cry myself to sleep every night." I giggled. "I turned this white ribbon into a tie for him."

"After… that, right?" Mewt asked, trying not to be rude.

"I got him before the accident, actually."

"So even before that, it was that rough…" Mewt rubbed his forehead.

"What about your bear?"

"I… I got it from Mama…" He squeezed his little teddy bear tightly.

"I kind of wish Morry was real sometimes." I chuckled. "Y'know, have a tiger follow you everywhere."

"That would be pretty cool."

"And, like, the tiger, or Morry, would be like 'OM NOM NOM' to all of your bullies." Jake said, attempting to be funny.

"Eat them! Eat them all!" Mewt howled.

"ALL THE THINGS." I called in response.

Eventually, one by one we fell asleep. I was last to go, though I was comforted by the soft snores and breathing of the boys in contrast to the babbling of the drunk in the other room.

It's the same dream as usual. Lying on my back in the middle of a grassy plain. There are a couple of buildings in the distance, and I can hear someone behind me calling my name in an odd, low, guttural voice. Before I can get up and turn to see who it is, I wake up.

What… what the actual fuck?! Where am I?!

I'm sitting in an alleyway of a place I am unfamiliar with. The colors of the buildings around me are tan-colored and appear to be made of mostly stone. At the end of the alley, I can see people and… creatures walking about.

From what I can tell, this place looks a lot like a video game I loved playing, Final Fantasy. These creatures, too, resemble the ones in the game series. Bangaa, Viera, Moogles, Nu-

"Hehey! Look at what we got here!" I was snapped out of my thoughts by two humans at the end of the alley. A thief and a paladin. An odd combination if you ask me.

"Esther, take a good look at this little mage!" The thief called. Mage? Ah, but I can see from the corner of my eyes that I'm holding a Rod and wearing a Sage Robe.

Damn I'm a nerd. I guess in this case it's not a bad thing, though.

"She's got a nice ass on her, doesn't she, Cuthbert?" Esther the paladin cooed.

"Piss off!" I screeched, jumping to my feet.

Cuthbert licked his lips while Esther continued his taunts. "And you know what they say about mages…"

"Can't stand physical attacks, can they? We'll have her unconscious in no time!"

"No, I don't believe you will!" That familiar, guttural voice from my dreams came from behind them. It was an ash grey Bangaa, apparently. I suppose that made sense in collaboration with his voice. He appeared to be a bishop.

"This is our girl, lizard!"

"I'm not anyone's girl you son of a bitch!" I growled at the two humans.

"Hoo hoo! Chick has a bit of bite in her, doesn't she?" Cuthbert sneered.

"Now I feel more like an engagement than a bit of private time!" Esther chuckled.

"Fighting seems to be the only way out of this. What about you, Miss?" The bishop looked at me.

"As long as I can get out of this alley first!"

The humans agreed that that was only fair. We made our way to a clearing. A couple of people had gathered to watch, and near the edge of them was and armored man riding an armored, giant bird, presumably a chocobo.

I'm hopelessly confused, but I'm sure I'll make it through this. On one side of the clearing stood the bishop and I, and the other was where the two humans stayed. The man on the chocobo stepped forward and spoke.

"Today's laws prohibit the use of items. An infraction of this law will result in the violator being sent to jail. Ready? Defeat all enemies!"

"I didn't know that there were rules to fights."

The Bishop shook his head. "Just make sure you don't break the laws, or you'll be sent to the prison in Sprohm."

"My father tended to get sent to prison often. I don't plan on following him."

"Good. Just use your magic here and I'll back you up." Despite his voice, he was still able to pronounce things as a human would. That must've taken quite a bit of practice.

The two humans are next to each other, so if I were to use a spell on one, it would affect the other as well. "I hope this works…" I muttered under my breath, moving closer to them. "Fire!"

It worked! It freaking worked! I burned them both with a small whirl of fire!

"Nice hit! Now it's my turn!" The bishop stopped beside me using a spell called Aero, hitting one of the humans.

Cuthbert rushed towards me, knife in hands and tried to stab my shoulder. On instinct, I grabbed his hand and twisted it. When he recoiled I took the opportunity to get back at him by slamming the rod in my hands against his back. He gave a sharp cry and fainted.

Was that pathetic? I think that was pathetic…

It doesn't seem like the crowd was expecting me to hit that hard, and neither did the bishop. "… you hit pretty hard for a mage…"

"Knock out verified! You are awarded one Judge Point!"

"And what's that do?"

"Keep gathering judge points. It lets you do combos, though I don't think you'd need them in this fight, Miss." The bishop seemed to smirk at me. I guess the man riding the chocobo is a judge?

Esther decided it would be easier to take his chances with the bishop, though his slow attack was dodged with ease.

My turn again, I guess. I took a few steps away from them. I want to hit the paladin with Fire, but I didn't want to hurt my friend. The best thing to do here was to aim behind Esther, which I did. He kneeled, digging in his pockets.

"Where's that- here it is!" He pulled out a vial of liquid and drank it.

"Infraction noted! Violator Esther, you are to be sent to jail!" The man on the chocobo ordered the bird beside Esther. He dropped a red card beside him, and Esther disappeared.

"I'm glad that's over. You did pretty decent, Miss." The bishop smiled at me.

"So that Esther guy is in jail now?" He nodded.

"Maybe we should visit him sometime."

"You'd visit someone who had ill intentions for you?" He gave me a strange look.

"Yeah. Chances are, he ended up with the wrong crowd."

"You're a strange one." We walked away from the crowd to a quieter place. "By the way, you're not from around here, are you?"

"How'd you guess? Oh, wait, I didn't know about some things…" I rubbed the back of my neck.

"So where are you from?"

"A town called Ivalice…"

"But… that's the name of the country we're in…"

"Wha..?" Now we were both making odd faces.

"Yes, Ivalice is a country."

"I guess that pretty much confirms it…"

"Confirms what?"

"Either I'm having a really weird dream or the world has gone nuts. Wait, let me test the dream theory." I paused for a moment, trying to turn my hand into chocolate, but to no avail. "Nope, it's the world."

"And what makes you think everything's gone haywire? This is perfectly normal to me, aside from what you're saying."

"I live in a place where none of this exists outside of a video game, so right now, this is really hurting my brain…"

"W-what do you mean none of this exists outside of a game? You mean you've never been in Cyril before? Never seen Vieras, Moogles, or really any of this before?!"

I hung my head. "Yeah. I know I'm confusing you, but that's the truth of where I came from."

He shook his head. "I can't bring myself to believe something like that."

"Hey, I can hardly believe it myself. I'm totally lost here. But there was something familiar though."

"And that would be?"

"I woke up in an alley. I was homeless before I woke up here. But I specifically remember falling asleep in someone's house, with my brother, too…"

"… well, maybe my clan and I can help you find your brother, but I don't think sending you home would be a good idea if you have no place to stay…"

"A clan? Like, you work together and all that?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which, I've never seen a mage deal a blow like that. Would you, would you join us?"

Well, this is certainly new! No one's ever recruited me for anything before…

I stood there slack jawed until I gained my senses. "I think I'd love to. I can't stand being alone."

"Great! All I have to do is introduce you. I think they'd like you. By the way, what's your name, Miss?"

"My name is Kyra. You?"

"Sullivan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kyra." He turned and began to walk away. "C'mon, I'll show you to our base! It's in the middle of Giza Plains."

"Umm…" I murmured.

"What's wrong?"

"I may pass out on the way."

"Why?! Are you hurt?" He examined me for scratches.

"N-no, it's a medical condition. If I go more than a few hour without eating, I get dizzy, and I haven't eaten since last night." I looked to the ground, embarrassed to admit this weakness.

"Aww, maybe we should get you something to eat then!" He took my hand and began to walk further into the city.

"I-I don't have any Gil!"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head. Clan work pays well, so I've got this!" He smiled at me again.

"That's twice this week that someone's fed me. Thank you, Sullivan…"

He took me to a pub, The Prancing Chocobo, and sat me down.

"Sullivan! Don't you think she's a little too young to be hanging around clans?" The bar tender queried.

"That's actually a good question. How old are you, Kyra?"

"I'm almost fifteen." I paused for a moment. "Wait, different place, I forgot. There are five months in a year, right?"

"… right…" The bartender stared at me.

"I guess that would make me… a little over thirty three and a half years old. I keep forgetting that there are five months instead of twelve. Stupid dreams." I smiled innocently.

"Well, there are two ways of determining your age. You can either go by your species age, which is fourteen, or by the official ages, thirty three. Make sense?" The bar tender told me as if it were the simplest thing he'd ever heard.

"Yeah." It'll take a while to fully consume that, but I understand it well enough.

"She's… not from around here."

"I can tell. She looks a bit hungry, too."

"That's why we're here. Can we get the special, Cecil?"

"Sure thing." Cecil turned and headed into another room.

"So, you said you had a brother, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have a step brother named Jacob. Jacob Hielen. He gave me a tiger, and I remember having the tiger with me when I fell asleep, too, but neither of them was there…"

"A tiger? I thought you were homeless. How'd he manage to get you a tiger?"

"Well, we did have a home until about three months ago. Our parents, or rather my mom and his dad, are dead now." I stared at the counter, not wanting to look up at him. "He got me the tiger six months ago."

"Does your tiger have a name?" He asked calmly.

"… Morrison." Why is he so interested in my plush toy?

"Does he wear a white ribbon?"

How did he know that?! "Yes, yes he does! How did you-"

"A friend of mine sent a letter by bird saying that a tiger dressed as a red mage wearing a white ribbon as a tie showed up at his doorstep in the middle of the night, talking about another world and saying that he'd lost his friend. I got it this morning, as they weren't very far and birds travel easily." Sullivan explained.

What? Morry? Talking? "Morrison is, wait, he's alive?"

Sullivan gave me another odd look and nodded. "He was alive when you were at the other place, right?"

"No, he wasn't, he was a small plush toy! Hell, I wished he was alive, though!"

"I guess you got your wish then. But really, this is just plain weird!" Sullivan shook his head. "Does that mean you want to see him?"

"I certainly do!"

"I suppose we will! He only lives over in Sprohm, so we'll head over to Giza Plains, introduce you to the rest of the clan, and we'll all head over there. Sound good?"

"Fine by me!" By now, I was ridiculously happy. Morry and a clan! This is great! Oh, but one thing… "I, uh, should warn you though. I might be a little awkward around the rest of the clan at first."

"Shy? They'll think that's adorable."

"I've got your order ready!" Cecil called.

Again, I nearly cried during the meal. Sullivan seemed to understand why, noting that it must've been tough finding food on the streets. After Sullivan paid for the meal (which I'm still freaking out about), we left. It took about an hour to reach Giza Plains, and an hour longer to make it to their base.

We were met by a Moogle dressed in black and white.

"Hey, Sully, who's that with you, kupo?" She asked.

"Irene, this is Kyra." My face grew a bit red, and I tried to hide behind Sullivan. "She's joining the clan."

"Aww, she's so cute! C'mon, Louise is going to love you!" With a hop and a bounce, Irene led the way into the building that I assumed was their base.

"Giiiiirrrrrrls! We've got a new member! Come on down and meet her!" She called in a singsong voice upstairs.

Immediately I heard running from upstairs along with a bit of giggling. Oh dear…

Two Viera came running down the stairs, fencers from the looks of it.

"Amiti, stop pushing!"

"I want to meet her too, Amirin!"

This continued until one tripped over the other at the end of the stairs. A Nu Mou, white mage I assume, followed, scolding them both. "Now how many times have you girls tripped running down the stairs? You'll break your necks!"

The two girls got up from the floor and walked towards me.

"Hi there!"

"What's your name?"

"How old are you?"

"Oh, come now! You're making the poor girl uncomfortable! Give her a little space at least." The Nu Mou put her hands on the girls' shoulders. "I apologize for them. They get a little bit excited meeting new people. My name is Louise. This," she gestured to the older Viera with short hair. "is Amiti. This," she gestured to the younger of the two, with short hair in the front and long hair in the back tied with a red ribbon. "is her sister Amirin. I guess you've met Irene?"

I nodded, my face still warm. "I-it's nice meeting you all. M-my name's Kyra."

I really like them. Sure, the sisters make me a bit nervous, but I really like them.

"I'm sure it'll be a pleasure having you, Miss Kyra. Allow me to show you around."

Louise led me around the building. Apparently they had a hot spring in the back, a natural one. When she noticed that I had begun to shake, she immediately took me to the kitchen.

"Whenever you get hungry, just come down here and get something to eat. We don't have a cook, so it's mostly fruits and vegetables here."

"I'm cool with that." I replied after catching she apple she had tossed at me.

"You seem like you're a bit calmer now. I guess you're not used to being crowded, are you?"

"Not at all. I was one of those people that everyone avoided unless they felt like picking on someone."

Irene must be some kind of ninja, because there she was right behind me. "Homeless and oppressed. We'll make sure that never happens to you again, kupo!"

"Sullivan told you, huh?"

"Yep. He also told us that we're leaving for Sprohm tomorrow morning to see a friend of yours. You have a tiger named Morrison, right, kupo?"

I nodded. The sisters came running in squealing. They hugged me from both sides. "You! You cute little shy thing, you!"

"Do they do this hugging thing to people often?" I asked Louise.

She nodded. "I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it. They'll explode if they don't hug the life out of every living thing they see."

"No we won't!" They complained in unison.

"What about that time neither of you refused to let go of a tree?" Irene giggled.

"Girls!" Sullivan walked in. "Oh, damn, they got to you pretty quick!" He laughed when he saw the huglock I was in. "Listen, we're going to be heading off pretty early tomorrow, so I suggest packing some stuff and getting to bed early. Alright?"

"Got it!" We all responded.

"Oh, um, what's the name of the clan?" I asked.

Sullivan scratched his neck. "We don't have a name. We're not very well known."

"We won't be if we don't have a name!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what do you suggest we call ourselves then?" He didn't seem like he was being sarcastic.

"How about… Clan Wyvern?" Best name I could think of. Besides, they don't really know why I chose that specific dragon.

Sullivan nodded. "Yeah, I can see that catching on pretty quickly. From here on out, we're Clan Wyvern!"

Amirin began flailing and making some weird babbling noise. Her sister and Irene followed. Why not join them?

"You guys are weird…"

I stopped mid-strangeness and turned to him. "All of the best people are!" I smiled playfully.

"She said it!" Amiti picked me up and set me on her shoulders. "You know, you're really small and light."

"I will eat your face." I glared at her.

"Not before I eat yours, kupo!" Irene tackled Amiti, knocking us both over.

"Save your energy!" Sullivan laughed at us.

"Why? Sprohm is just past Cyril!"

"And Miss Kyra has a condition. I noticed it while giving her a tour of the house." Louise pointed out.

"It only takes effect if I haven't eaten in a few hours. Physical activity has nothing to do with it." I shrugged. "By the way, what's your friend's name, Sullivan?"

"You can call me Sully if you want. His name is Montblanc. He has a clan, too, but they're small like us. He's a pretty good-natured Moogle. And he's a black mage like you!"

"No kidding? Maybe I could get some tips from him."

"He's as much of a beginner as you are, hon!"

"Ooooh, I just thought of something! You said he was in Sprohm, right? And the jail is there too?" I began bouncing on my feet.

"Yes, why? You planning on seeing Esther?" I nodded.

"I still don't get why you'd want to see that creep, but alright." He shook his head.

"I'm tellin' you he just got caught up in the wrong crowd! Maybe we could talk to him a bit? Get him back to his senses?"

They all stared at me. "Not many people would do that for someone who tried to do something of that manner to them…"

"Look, I know it's weird, and probably not the smartest thing to do-"

"But you're good enough to do it." Louise pat my back and gave me a warm smile. "Regardless of whether or not he returns the favor, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

After a bit more chatter, we headed to the bedroom. Or rather, Sully went to his and the girls and I all shared a room. It was a pretty big room, too. Quite a few beds in here, too. Amiti gave me my own bag, and let me just say that it can carry a crap ton and still have room for some more stuff, despite being a bit small in size. She also lent me some bed clothes until we could get to a shop. They're a little big, but they'll do.

They fell asleep pretty early. I didn't have Morrison with me, so it's difficult to fall asleep. I eventually drift off hours after everyone else.

A/N: Its official that I'm going to try to make each chapter at the very least 4,000 words long. If I didn't, this would be even more slow-paced.

Review~!


	3. Work And Redemption Of A Criminal!

~Kyra~

Louise had to wake me up, not like I didn't expect it. We left as soon as we were all dressed for travel.

Now that I'm not panicking, I can actually look around. However, I was shaken out of my thoughts by Sullivan.

"How are you adjusting?"

"Surprisingly well." I huffed. "I normally don't make friends so easily."

"Hhhoooowwww is that even possible? You're a nice person, kupo!" Irene sped up to match my pace.

"Well, back at… home, I guess you would call it, I was ignored or picked on because of my realistic view on things. Not only that, but people were very closed minded." I avoided her gaze.

"I guess they didn't want to hear about certain things?"

"You could say that, but I call it running away. I understand why the people at home don't want to hear all of the horrors, but they're leaving themselves unprepared! All of them!" I sighed quietly. "I only hope that I can push some sense through my society before it's too late. They'll all get themselves killed."

"What's going to happen to them?" Louise joined in on the conversation. I expected she would.

"They're sick, and we haven't funded enough to cure these diseases. Some parts of the world can't get clean water, and even though we have enough money to fix it, we're wasting it on junk!"

"I thought all water was clean…"

"My world is riddled with pollution thanks to the fossil fuels we use to power, well, everything. It's destroying the environment, killing the ecosystem. There are also a few companies that control the shipment of fossil fuels. They're too greedy to give other powering companies a chance to flourish and stop both the power crisis and slow down pollution. When we run out of oil, my world is going to turn into a living Hell. People who have lived their entire lives on electricity aren't going to be able survive because they've been pampered the whole time! Too, agh, weak to save themselves! And before we run out of oil, just before then, there's going to be another war over it." I shook my head. "But no, no one ever listens to the freaks of the world. 'We're just going to do what we want because we're _positive_ that nothing's going to happen to us!' And there's much more to it that I haven't even gotten to yet!"

None of them could respond to what I had just said. "I'm sorry. I'm just… very frustrated about my entire world."

~Sullivan~

This kid… she's too young to be worrying about all of that. At her age, she should just be enjoying life. It takes a lot for someone so young to notice these things.

I don't know where she came from, but it sounds like a terrible place. Just talking about it agitates her.

"Surely…" I prompted her. "There are others like you who notice these problems, right?"

"Yes, but there are few and far between. Regardless, I hope to gather them all one day so we can plot a way to fix them and execute those plans." She's at least got some level head about it.

"I think you and the others alongside you will be able to make it work, Faas." I pat her head. She seemed to flinch when I did so. Should I not have done that?

"Hey, Sully, is this Sprohm?" She pointed ahead at the border of another town past as we made it to the edge of Cyril. I hadn't realized how fast we had been moving. I expected for the trip to take another half hour or so… oh well, this is just as good!

"It is! Your dear friend is just a few minutes away. I assume Montblanc and his clanners are at The Long Ear Tavern. They tend to hang around pubs when they're not on missions."

That seemed to cheer her up.

It seems to me that there are two sides to this girl. One that's happy and content, playful even. The other is more analytical and mature, angry at the world. I think I prefer her playful side. She's cuter when she smiles.

A few minutes passed before we made it to The Long Ear Tavern. I saw Montblanc waiting outside, and he rushed towards us. "Is this the girl you were telling me about, Sul? Marche said he knew her, too!"

"Marche is here?! Cool! I wonder if the rest of Mewt's friends got here…"

"Mewt? She doesn't mean…" Montblanc gave me a confused look.

"I'm sure she doesn't mean him. Let's go inside, I can tell Kyra is practically exploding with excitement. Besides, it's about time our clans meet."

When we made it inside, it seemed to me like our two clans were the only ones there at the time.

Immediately, an anthropomorphic tiger dressed as a red mage came rushing towards Kyra, sweeping her up in his arms and spinning wildly. I couldn't help but stare.

"Kyyyyyrrrraaaaaa! I missssssed yooooouuuuuu! Hey, guess what?" The tiger set her down, but was still petting the little girl.

"I missed you too! What, what, what, what iiiiiisssss it?" Now she was fully in play-mode.

"We're both mages!" He turned back to Montblanc's clan. "Hey, hey guys! This is Kyra! She's awesome! I love her!"

It took them a minute to react. No one seemed to think that Morrison would react that way.

After a bit of introduction, our clans began to mingle.

~Kyra~

I have my Morry! I'm so happy I could just die! I could just spontaneously combust!

And Marche is walking towards us, too! "Hi, Marche!"

"Kyra, you're actually here… and you're telling me that Morrison used to be a doll?" He tilted his head to Morry.

Morry nodded. "I was. Her step brother gave me to her as a gift. We've been best friends since. Since I was a doll, this is definitely awkward, but I'm just glad to be back with Ky again."

"Wow…"

"Yeah, I know. So weird right?" He smiled awkwardly at Marche.

"So do you know if anyone else is here?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, I haven't run into anyone else, but I'll let you know. My clan and I are going herb picking in Giza Plains, though."

"That's where my clan hangs out. Maybe we can help?"

"If Montblanc is okay with it. Hey Montblanc?" He turned to find Montblanc, leaving me and Morrison to talk.

"So are you with Montblanc's clan?"

"Clan Nutsy? No, I gave him the mission to lead me to you. He told me you joined and named Clan Wyvern, like Marche did with Clan Nutsy." He paused for a moment. "Hey, wait, maybe I can join Clan Wyvern?"

"I don't think Sully would mind."

"Hey, Kyra!" Marche headed back to us, a smile on his face. "Sullivan and Montblanc agreed on sending members from both clans on this mission. They agreed on splitting the profit in half, too. 300 gil for each clan."

"Suweeeeeet!"

"In fact-" I spun on my heels to see that it was Sully talking.. "Since you and Marche are both new, you'll be having your first mission together."

"It'll be you, Marche, Sullivan and I." Montblanc joined him. "Morrison can come too, if he wants."

"Yes, I do! And I want to join Clan Wyvern, too!"

The Viera sisters jumped on him. "YAY!"

"Could we go visit Esther first?" I tugged on Sullivan's hemp robe.

"Wha..? Oh, right, him! We can go visit him right now, actually." He turned to the rest of our clans. "We'll be back in a bit!"

And to the jails we went.

It wasn't far from the pub, but lemme tell you something, this place is a total creep fest! You've got these statues in the front that have these blank expressions, but you feel like they're watching you anyways. And the Bangaa at the front kept giving me this skeptical look, like he was ready to attack me at any minute… I guess that's what hanging around a jail does to you, you get paranoid.

Well, the guy, Nathaniel, led us to Esther's cell. Looks like we aren't the only ones to visit him.

His partner, Cuthbert was there, and he was chewing him out really badly.

"I can't believe you forgot yesterday's law! The boss is gonna be pissed having to bail you out again!"

"Well, at least it was over a potion. Could you imagine the bill if we had actually gone through with attacking that girl?"

"You mean if we had gotten caught! You were the one with the bright idea of switching to an engagement! And now look at my head! Look at the fucking size of this bump! That bitch could've killed me!"

"I guess this is what we get for trying to mess with her! I get sent to prison, and you get your head bashed."

"You think this is funny, asshole?!"

"I never said it was funny!"

"Oh, but you're laughing inside, aren't you? You're not the one who took a rod to the head!"

"You damn well deserve it as much as I deserve to be in here!"

"Y-you just wait 'till our leader gets here! You'll be kicked out of Clan Borzoi!"

"Fine! I quit anyways! I'm sick of getting in trouble!"

"Then you can just forget about your bail out!"

"I deserve to be in here! Leave me alone!"

Cuthbert put his cap back on and turned to face us. He growled at me when he passed by.

"Esther! You've got two more visitors! A Bangaa and a Human girl!" Nathaniel called to him.

I could hear a faint "Damn it…" as we continued towards his cell.

He looked away from me when I stood in front of his cell. "Come to pick on me and scold me? Go ahead."

Sullivan gave me a nod, intending to let me speak.

"Esther, I'm not going to scold you."

"Oh, really? Why is that? What I was planning was undeniably wrong." He shook his head, still not making eye contact.

"And you realized that, didn't you? After all, you were the one who brought up engagement to Cuthbert." I tried to smile in case he was going to look up at me. "You didn't really want to go through with it, did you?"

He sighed. "No, I didn't. Hell, I should've just told him to leave you alone."

"Esther?"

"Yeah?" This time he did look up to me. I could see the shame written all over his face.

"How many times have you gotten into jail?"

His head lowered. He didn't answer.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know where it all went wrong!" He covered his face. "I don't know when or why, but I just kept getting into trouble. Stealing, fighting, hurting other people, good people, it just turned into a mess. It got even worse when I joined Clan Borzoi. I should've just kept clean…"

"It'll be alright! You just have to stay clean after this sentence! You have a place to stay afterwards, right?"

"No. I'd have to go back to stealing food…" He may have been before, he may have started now, but I noticed that he was shaking.

He genuinely felt terrible. He wasn't crying, at least not yet, but he definitely felt awful. I can see it in the way he moves his hands away from his face just how stressed out he is.

"Please, if you have an advice, I'm sure I can pay you back for it later…"

I looked up to Sullivan expectantly.

"I know I'm not in the position to ask for help, but I just need just a little advice. I don't know how to get out of this myself…"

"Esther," Sullivan had a blank expression, but there's a bit of a glint in his eye. What's he up to? "Do you know how to cook?" Oh, that. I forgot no one knows how to cook back at the base. Nice one, Sully!

"Y-yeah. I can bake, too. W-would you like for me to cook for you sometime?"

Sullivan said nothing. He just turned and left. I stood there, puzzled. It seems that Esther was the same way.

"What's his problem?"

I shrugged. We both waited in an awkward silence. Nothing happened until exactly three minutes and 34.7 seconds. How I am that precise, I don't know, but I was, so deal with it.

Nathaniel walked past a few cells until he reached Esther's, a key in his hand. "Esther, it seems you've been bailed out. Again. Try to keep out of trouble this time, will you?"

"Y-yes sir! You'll only see me again when I get my pardon!" When Nathaniel opened the door, Esther got up and stood by me. Sullivan came to get us both.

"Say, Esther, how would you like to work in Clan Wyvern? We don't have anyone who knows how to cook much."

Esther gave him a strange look as we walked out the door back to the pub. "Are… you…"

"Serious? Completely. But I'll only offer you this just this once. Take it or leave it."

The look on his face was priceless! His eyes were the size of disks and his mouth was wide open!

"The clock is ticking, Esther! Decide!"

He shook himself off before saying. "Yes, I'll join you!"

"Alright then. You don't have to break the law to live anymore. But I suppose you'll be cooking for two clans tonight. We're joining Clan Nutsy on a mission near our base. We're picking some herbs."

"Am I tagging along in that mission? I may be able to find some herbs for cooking."

"You'd may as well. We have to introduce you, first. And by the way, you should be thanking Kyra. I only went with her to see you because she wanted to."

Esther gave me an awkward smile. "Kid, you have no idea how much I owe you."

"Don't worry about it!"

"Oh, but I will! And what are the names of the rest of the clan?"

He asked, so I gave him the list. "Aside from you, Sullivan and I, there's a Moogle named Irene, she's a nice girl. There are Viera twins named Amiti and Amirin, and they're balls of energy. Louise is a very calm Nu Mou, she's easier to get along with when it comes to nervous people. Then there's Morrison, a tiger who's a very close friend of mine. He's a sweetheart, and he's a bit of a social butterfly."

"They don't sound bad. I doubt they'll like me, though. Do they know about-"

"Yes, they do. Give them enough time and I'm sure they'll be fine. It always works that way with them." Sullivan cut him off.

One minute he's relaxed, and now he's tense. I guess, well, now we have someone with a criminal record in our party. It only makes sense for him not to trust him right away. I'm still a little surprised he just offered to take him in like that, though.

Of course, it was a little awkward introducing Esther. He was quiet on the way back to our base, too. It had started barely getting darker, so he immediately went into the kitchen.

I decided to hang out with everyone else in the other room. Nutsy's Cesare, a yellowish Bangaa with the job of a white monk, kept hitting on Louise. Almost every comment makes her roll her eyes. No one seems to expect him to make any progress. Eventually, Amiti and Amirin start picking on him.

"Cesare and Louise, sitting in a tree-"

"Don't you dare finissh that rhyme!"

"- K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"You women are demonss! Abssolute demonss!"

This continued for a while until the girls got bored. When that ceased, Montblanc pointed out a few problems with the laws.

Apparently, they were slowly becoming stricter.

"Supposedly, the Queen's only doing it to please That Brat, the prince."

"The kid's got problems! Either he's just fussy or incredibly paranoid, kupo!"

"I wonder how often Prince M-"

"Hey, guys! Dinner's ready!" Esther popped his head into the doorway. "How do you like Gedegg soup?"

That seemed to lighten up the mood. Though some were reluctant to try Esther's cooking, we all eventually found that he was pretty good at this.

"Esther! I love your cooking!" I called out to him.

He blushed a little and said "Have as much as you like. There's plenty."

And more I shall have!

Everyone else finished after their second bowl. I was the only one who could handle a third or fourth bowl.

"Well, aren't you a glutton?" Amirin teased.

"Being on the streets for so long gave me an appetite! Any chance I get to eat this much I'm willing to take!" I laughed.

Afterwards, everyone went to bed. Girls in one room, and the boys were in the other, as Sullivan had already made that rule. Before I made it into the room, I was stopped by Esther.

"What's up, Esther?" I smiled at him.

"I, uh, couldn't help but notice what you said earlier at dinner. About being on the streets."

"Yeah. My step brother and I lost our parents three months prior to all of this." I shrugged at him. "You learn to cope."

"It was hard enough for me, being an adult. How did you manage to do it at your age? No to mention that you supported someone else. Or did he support you?"

"We helped each other. Jacob's got a boyish charm, so sometimes he's able to snag a small meal for both of us. I don't work that way. He lets me use his slingshot since I'm the only one who knows how to clean and cook small animals."

"Is he that small? To charm people, I mean."

"Eh, yes and no. He's a year and a half younger than me, but he's still taller than me."

"How old are you, kid?"

"Almost fifteen. Um, human years."

"You're pretty small for your age."

I scowled at him. "I didn't mean to offend you. I guess it's in your gene pool?"

I nodded. "Both sides of my family are rather diminutive."

"Hm. Oh, hey, shouldn't we be asleep?"

"I forgot about that."

"Goodnight, kiddo."

"'Night, Esther. Thank you for dinner."

Like the night before, it was a bit difficult getting to sleep. I'm still used to sleeping with Morrison and, well, he's in the other room. The fact that he was here still comforted me enough to get me to sleep earlier than before.

I dreamt of darkness. In the midst of that darkness were three glowing lights, far away, like lanterns. I couldn't tell if they were just floating or if they were being held. They seemed to be moving. One of them seemed to be moving a bit slower than the others. Every once and a while, the other two lights stopped, as if waiting for the last one. I can't help but wonder what they are…

Suddenly, the darkness grew a mouth. It said "Wake up, rookie! It's time for your first mission, kupo!"

I shot up from my bed, accidentally smacking into Irene's forehead in the process.

"Holy shit, are you okay?!" We both held our foreheads.

"That hurt! Is your head made out of steel, kupeh?!"

"I'm so sorry! That's how I wake up when I'm startled!"

"Remind me never to do that again, kupo!"

"What happened in here?" Sullivan poked his head into the room.

"Kyra and Irene are being silly. Irene decided to get in Kyra's face before waking her up and BAM!" Amirin threw her hands up.

"I actually heard that one. I'm surprised their heads didn't go flying!" Amiti smirked.

"Oh, that. Irene, you've going to lose brain cells if you keep doing that to people!"

"I know, I know, kupo!"

"Wait, this isn't the first time she's done this?"

"She's done it to just about everyone." Louise yawned.

"I like people's faces when they sleep, kupo!"

"That's really creepy, man…" My eyes widened.

"Ah, well, Morrison, Marche and Montblanc are already up. Esther's making breakfast. You might head down to the kitchen with them." It took him a minute to realize that I wasn't completely under the covers. I was still wearing a kind of lacy bed dress I was borrowing. "Put some clothes on, first, please." Without another word, he closed the door before leaving.

Following directions, I put on some chain mail under my sage robe along with my black pants.

I met to boys downstairs. Esther was making chocobo egg omelets for us, along with a side of jerky.

He was wearing white pants and a black shirt as opposed to his paladin attire. His black hair was a bit unkempt. I knew my hair looked just as bad, if not much worse. Turns out I was right.

"That bed head, kiddo! You got people living in there?" He grinned with sarcasm.

"Yeah, I know, I forgot to brush my hair."

"You still have time before breakfast is ready! You forgot your glasses too. It looks… strange."

I took the hint and brushed my hair. I decided to pull it back in a low ponytail that trailed over my shoulder. I nearly fell on the way back downstairs. Stupid blood sugar!

"… you look older with your hair back." Marche commented.

"Yep."

"You're in an 'I don't give a single damn' mood today, aren't you?" Morry queried.

"Yep." I laid my head down on the table.

As expected, Esther's cooking was great. He needs to be in a cooking competition or something.

The area where herbs usually grew had a few monsters there, so obviously we needed to take care of them.

"I told you we have rough work! Are you guys ready?"

We nodded, attacking the monsters. There were six of us and five of them. Esther, Montblanc, and Sullivan handled a goblin each, Marche took down the red cap, and Morrison and I managed to beat a fairy. They must've been weak, considering half of us were just starting off.

I feel kinda bad for knocking out a fairy, but at least we didn't kill any of the monsters.

"So guys, what herbs were we looking for?" Morrison straightened his white ribbon tie.

"Muscma… something."

"Muscmaloi, kupo!" Montblanc shouted.

"Didn't we used to pick those when we were little, Montblanc?" Sullivan prodded him.

He nodded. "Look, there's some all over the place!"

"As well as thyme, rosemary, and basil among other things." Esther added.

"Cool! Let's gather some muscmaloi and head back to town."

"I'll take some of the other herbs back to the base."

Carrying as much as we could without damaging the fever-reducing herbs, we made our way back to Sprohm. As agreed, both clans received 300 Gil each.

~Jake~

I've been traveling in the woods for a couple of days now. I woke up in strange clothing and a red gun in hand. It doesn't seem like it has any ammo.

How could I have woken up in the woods? The other night, I had fallen asleep in Mewt's room. Speaking of which, where are Kyra and Mewt? They don't seem to be anywhere nearby…

I feel like someone's watching me. Someone or something.

Not really knowing what to do, I climb a tree. I climb as high as I can, gun in its holster. I scan the ground below and around me. Nothing. There may be something hiding out there, though. If there is, it knows I'm here, and it knows I can't tell where it is.

This is not good… I hope Kyra, Mewt and his friends are okay…

I can faintly hear singing… maybe there's someone nearby.

Gathering my nerve, I slowly make my way down the tree trunk. I pick up a stick to check for snakes. I hate snakes.

Making my way through a new part of the forest, I notice that there's a small pond with rocks on the other side. There's a girl sitting on the rocks. A girl in a white dress and a purple hat with long, pointed ears.

"Excuse me, miss?" I call out to her nervously.

She looks up to me, surprised. Much to my dismay, she begins to float towards me. She… she has wings! This wasn't a girl, this was a fairy!


End file.
